Hinge



ct. 21, 1941. A. BENZICK 2,259,970

HINGE Filed June 21, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l H35 E g: I m g 4% '52 m m gg 24 g0 g g 5 INVENTOR. ALEXANDER BENZ/CK.

A. BENZICK HINGE Filed June 21, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 w 2 25 mm 7.. V1

INVENTOR. Y ?NDER BENZ/CK. &1

I Patented Oct. 21, 1941 HINGE Alexander Benzick, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Nash Kelvinator Corporation, Kenosha, Wis... a corporation of Maryland Application June 21, 1940, Serial No. 341,616

This invention relates to the art of hinges Claims.

and more particularly to hinges which are employed in automobile body construction for securing movable closure members thereto. Formerly, hinges which were employed to secure a rear deck cover or trunk lid to the body of the automobile were required to have supplementary devices for supporting the deck cover or trunk lid when the same was in open position. Such supplementary devices have added needlessly to the expense of the automobile and have been a source of worry and trouble, as they very easily fall into a state of disrepair and become noisy and inoperative.

A primary object of the invention resides in the provision of means, as a part of a rear deck or trunk hinge, for supporting the trunk lid of an automobile in open position, which means operates automatically, is trouble free and rela tively inexpensive.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hinge which co-acts with spring means, which serves to raise a deck or trunk lid to its open position and which serves to close the deck or trunk lid or at least reduce the opening force upon the approach ofthe lid to a closed position.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter as the description proceeds and will be pointed out more completely in connection with the attached claims.

This case is a continuation in part of my earlier filed application for Hinges, Serial No. 229,273,

filed September 10, 1938.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference is had to the following descrip tion and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in vertical section of a portion of a motor vehicle illustrating the apparatus comprising the present invention and showing the trunk lid in closed position;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 but showing the deck or trunk lid in open position;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken upon planes as indicated by the broken line 33 of Figure 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view through the hinge mechanism shown in Figure 3, taken upon planes, as indicated by the broken line 4-4 of Figure 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view through the hinge taken upon a plane as indicated by the line 55 of Figure 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the hinge structure with parts broken away in order more clearly to show the construction;

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 1 but showing a modified type of hinge structure and showing the lid in full lines in closed position and in dotted lines in open position;

Figure 8 is a vertical sectional view through the modified type of hinge taken substantially upon a plane as indicated by the line 8-8 of Figure 7 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and,

Figure 9 is a horizontal sectional view through the modified type of hinge taken upon a plane as indicated by the line 99 of Figure 8.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, in which similar reference characters are emj ployed to designate similar parts, and which are to be taken as exemplifying rather than as limiting the invention, the device will be seen to be embodied in a hinge indicated generally at l0, which is secured in any suitable manner to the interior of the automobile body l2. A pair of brackets l4 are welded or otherwise attached upon the interior of the body. I2 and have downwardly projecting portions l 6 provided with apertures to receive bolts l8, which pass through slots in the base plate 22 of the hinge structure.

The base plate 22 is provided at its upper end with a pair of rearwardly extending ears 24 between which'is received the main leaf 26 of the hinge, Leaf 26 of the hinge is provided with a pair of apertures through which a pivot pin 28 extends to connect it to the ears 24 of the base member 22, the leaf member 26 comprising an irregular channel-shaped section. Upon the other end of the leaf member 26 the inner side of deck lid 30 is secured in any suitable manner for cooperation with a rubber gasket 32 carried in a channel 34 surrounding the aperture to be closed by the deck lid 30. The hinge member 28 is provided with a downwardly oifset portion 36 so as to clear the inwardly projecting edge or channel portion 34 of the compartment body I2.

A second set of rearwardly projecting ears 38 is provided upon the base plate 22 below the pivot 28, such ears having a spring cradle 40 pivoted thereto by means of the rivets 42. A tubular member 44 has one end securely fastened through an aperture in the spring cradle 40 and extends downwardly therefrom toward an intermediate portion of the hinge leaf 26.

A second spring cradle 46, is pivoted as at 48 to the hinge leaf 26 and has rigidly secured thereto a pin 50 for cooperation with the interior carries.

of the tubular member 44. A spring 62, initially 58 and tube 44, and has its ends seated upon the cradles 46 and 40 respectively.

Referring more particularly to Figure 6, it will be noted that when the lid is in closed position the pivots 28, 42 and 48 lie very nearly in alignment so that the spring 52 exerts little or no force in a direction which tends to rotate the hinge leaf 26 in a counter-clockwise direction or tends ture in the upper spring cradle 16. Since the pin 82 projects throughthe upper spring cradle l6. v and since the hinge in open position causes this pin to be rotated approximately 90'degrees with to raise the lid 30 to which the hinge leaf 26 is connected. That is to say, the cradles or spring seats 40 and 46 are in substantial alignment with the hinge pin 28, and both extend in the same general direction with regard to said pin. When the common plane relationship of the pivot points 28, 42 and 48 is disturbed as by lifting-upwardly upon the lid 30, the pivot point 48 will. be displaced therefrom and swing to the right as viewed in Figure 6, thus moving the line of action of the spring out of alignment or approximate alignment with pivot pin 28 and urging the pivot 48 rearwardly and upwardly with a force which increases directly as the angle between the lid and the body increases. The effectiveness of the spring 52 is limited, however, by reason of the separation which is eifected between the pivot points 42 and 48 upon. counter clockwise rotation of the leaf 26. Leaf 26 and its attached lid 30 will soon reach a position of equilibrium which is determined by the initial compression of the spring and the weight of the lid. Such position of equilibrium is shown in Figure 2.

When it is desired to close the 1m 30, it is only necessary to press downwardly thereupon, thus.

simultaneously compressing the spring 52 and reducing the distance between the pivot points 48 and 42 and, at the same time, decreasing the angle between the axis of the spring 52 and a line extending through the centers 28 and 48, which angle vectorially determines-the turning moment impressed by the spring upon the hinge leaf 26 for raising the lid, a decrease in this angle reducing the turning moment and an increase -in the angle increasingthe turning moment.

The fixed brackets l4 and the hinge pin 28 and spring seat 40 which they support in spaced relation may conveniently be designated as a hinge sub-assembly, as may also the movable hinge member 36 and the seat or cradle 46 which it Referring to the modification shown in Figures 7 to 9 inclusive, the device is here shown as comprising a portion of the body structure of the vehicle l2 which has secured to it frame member 60 having downwardly projecting portions 62 to which the hinge base member 64 is secured by means of bolts 65. The base member 64 comprises a two-part structure, the most rearward piece 66 of which has welded thereto a pivot sup- .port frame 68, channel-shaped in cross section,

the upper part of which is forwardly bent as at 10 for a purpose hereinafter to be described. The uppermost portion of the forwardly'bent section 10 receives a pivot pin 12 upon which there is suitably secured the main hinge leaf 14. An intermediateportion of the support 68 has riveted thereto for pivotal movement a spring cradle 16, against the under side of which there isseated a compressionspring 18.. The opposite end of upper spring cradle I6, it is essential that the base member 68 be relieved as at 10 to accommodate the thus-rotated pin 82.

The outer or rear free end of the hinge member 14 is suitably secured to the deck or trunk lid 84, the edges of which cooperate with a sealing gasket 86 carried in a frame surrounding the aperture to be closed by the lid 84.

The operation of the device shown in Figures 7 to 9 is the same as that shown in Figures 1 to 6.

Although the pivots 28, 42, '46 of Figures 1 to 6 and the corresponding pivots of Figures 7 to 9 have been described as in alignment when the hinge is in closed position, it will be understood that this alignment may occur prior to the returnof the hinge to close position so that instead of the spring exerting its force along the line of centers when in closed position, it exerts a slight force in a direction tending to close the hinge and maintain it thus closed. Such an arrangement is similar in many respects to an overcentering toggle. 7

It should also be noted that with modern pro- 7 duction methods it is not always possible to hold the dimensions of parts exactly and it may sometimes occur that alignment of the spring seat pivots with the hinge pivot will not take place. This is true because of the necessity for assembling a. hinge usually fabricated by a hardware manufacturer witha body and trunk lid which are manufactured in a body plant. Quite large expanses of sheet metal are being dealt with in the case of body and trunk lid and slight aberrations are considerably magnified over-such large expanses. For this reason it should be apparent that the desired radial alignment of the hinge withthe spring seat pivots may fail to occur when the closure is in its closed position. Accordingly, there may under such circumstances be some slight pressure directed as to exert an opening force'upon the trunk lid but normally insufficient to swing the closure to open position.

v I claim:

1. Hinge construction comprising a stationary hinge element,a movable hinge element, a pivot connecting said elements, said movable element comprising a channel member bent intermediate its ends with the channel facing said stationary hinge element, a pair of ears formed on said stationary element, a U-shaped spring seat, pivot means connecting the arms of said spring seat to said cars, a second U-shaped spring seat, further pivot means connecting the armsof said second seat to the sides of said channeled hinge member adjacent the bent portion thereof, spring means extending and compressed between said spring seats, and means extending between and maintaining the springengaging portions of said seats in parallelism in in all positions of displacement of the hinge elethe compression spring 18 is'seated against a ments,- said spring seats being so positioned that the axes of said spring seat pivots and the hinge pivot lie substantially in a common plane when the hinge is in closed position andare displaced therefrom to exert an opening force upon the hinge when it is moved from closed position.

2. A hinge construction comprising a fixed I hinge member, a movable hinge member movable betweenpredetermined limits, means pivotally connecting said hinge members. a spring seat pivoted to said fixed hinge member and having its pivot axis spaced irom the axis of connecting means being disposed in parallel relation, each of said spring seats having a spring engaging portion, and a coiled compression spring seating on and extending between said spring engaging portions, said movable hinge member being movable through an arc about said pivotal connecting means a suilicient distance to one of its predetermined limits to cause the iongitudinal axis of said spring to substantially intersect the axis of said pivotal connecting means, the distance between the pivot axes of said spring seats being less than the distance between said spring engaging portions of said spring seats.

3. A hinge construction comprising a fixed hinge member, a movable hinge member, means pivotally connecting said hinge members, a pair of U-shaped members, the base of the U of each U-shaped member forming a spring seat, means pivotally connecting the legs .of one U- shaped member to said fixed hinge member, means pivotally connecting the legs of the other U-shaped member to said movable hinge member, the axes of all of said pivotal connecting means being in parallel relation, and a coiled compression spring having its ends in abutting engagement with said spring seats and disposed between the legs of said U-shaped members.

4. A hinge construction comprising hinge means adapted to be located wholly within a compartment and including a first hinge subassembly adapted to be secured to an inner wall of said compartment adjacent an aperture therein, said first hinge sub-assembly including a hinge pin and a spring seat in spaced relation, a second hinge sub-assembly adapted to be secured at one end to the inner side of a closure lid for said compartment aperture and having its other end pivotaliy connected to said hinge pin, said second hinge sub-assembly having a generally U-shaped oflset portion intermediate its ends adapted to clear the'adjacent boundary of the compartment aperture in the open position of the closure lid, and said second hinge subassembly being provided with a spring seat spaced from said hinge pin, .and a coiled compression spring mounted between and in end abutting engagement with said springseats, the longitudinal axis of said spring in the normal closed position of the closure lid substantially intersecting the axis of said hinge pin, whereby said spring in such closed position of the closure lid exerts no substantial force tending to open the closure lid.

5. A. hinge construction comprising hinge means adapted tobe located wholly within a compartment and including a first hinge part adapted to be secured to an inner wall of said compartment adjacent an aperture therein, a

hinge pin and a spring seat both supported by said first hinge part, a movable second hinge part adapted to be secured at one end to a closure lid for saidcompartment aperture and having its other end connected to said hinge pin, said second hinge part having a generally U- shaped ofiset portion intermediate its ends to clear the edge of the compartment aperture in the open position of the closure lid, and said second hinge part having a spring'seat, and a coiled compression spring mounted between andin end abutting engagement with said spring seats, the longitudinal axis of said spring in normally closed position of the hinge means substantially intersecting the axis of said hinge pin, and said spring seats in the closed position of said movable second hinge part being substan- ALEXANDER BENZICK. 

